Drawer construction including preformed side members and supporting slide rails therefor



L004 wooa INVENTORS 6/0100 l V. 0 0 0e/7hu/zen John 0 Filed Oct. 12, 1966 S. W. OPPENHUIZEN ET AL AND SUPPORTING SLIDE RAILS THEREFOR DRAWER CONSTRUCTION INCLUDING PREFORMED SIDE MEMBERS June 4, 1968 ATTORNEY United States Patent DRAWER CONSTRUCTION INCLUDING PRE- FORMED SIDE MEMBERS AND SUPPORT- ING SLIDE RAILS THEREFOR Simon W. Oppenhuizen and John 0. Lockwood, Grand Rapids, Mich., assignors to Uniline Corporation, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 491,703, Sept. 30, 1965. This application Oct. 12, 1966, Ser. No. 586,287

7 Claims. (Cl. 312-348) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Laterally outwardly folded flanges on metal side walls of a drawer, forming support bars for the drawer, rear support rollers on the outer sides of the drawer near the back and spaced below the bars, fixed slide rails having tracks supporting the rear rollers, front rollers mounted in spaced relation over the front ends of the tracks to support the bars on the sides of the drawer, vertically swingable stop hooks on the slide rails located vertically between the front rollers and the tracks, and limit stop projections on the sides of the drawer towards its rear engagea-ble behind the stop hooks to limit outward movement of the drawer.

Related applications This application is a continuation-in-part of applicants copending application, Ser. No. 491,703 filed Sept. 30, 1965, for Drawer Construction and Preformed Side Members Therefor, said application now being abandoned.

Summary of invention A drawer and supporting slide rail assembly in which rollers mounted on the sides of the drawer rollingly support the rear of the drawer from tracks on the slide rails, while fixed rollers mounted at the front of the slide rails rollingly support laterally projecting bars formed as integral reinforcing flanges bent from the tops of the side walls. Releasable stop hooks supported on horizontal pivots on the slide rails at points near the front thereof and located vertically between the front rollers andthe tracks engage out limit stop projections fixed to the sides of the drawer near the back thereof. The hooks are positioned by gravity with lower ends in downwardly and rearwardly inclined position to cam upwardly over the rear rollers and the stop projections, when the drawer is inserted between the slide rails.

The structure provides a simple, inexpensive roller slide mount for a drawer, with an out limit stop that is easily disengageable to remove the drawer.

Other objects and advantages of the drawer side members, supporting guide rails or bars, and the drawer structure and assembly made therefrom will be apparent from a consideration of the following description and claims. The drawings of which there is one sheet illustrate two highly practical forms of drawer side members of sheet metal, and a supporting slide rail and roller arrangement cooperative with the sheet metal side members.

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a drawer partially broken away in cross section and embodying a folded sheet metal variation of the metal side member of the invention and a supporting slide rail and glide roller cooperative therewith.

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the drawer and side supporting slide rail therefor shown in open position of the drawer.

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary front elevational view of "ice the drawer side member in coacting relation to the slide rail, the other panels of the drawer being omitted.

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary top plan view, partially broken away, of the side member, slide rail and supporting rollers shown in FIGURES 2 and 3.

FIGURE 5 is an end elevational view of a modified form of folded sheet metal side member adapted for use in the drawer structure shown in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary top plan view of the side member shown in FIGURE 4 with portions broken away to show the connection of glide buttons thereto.

The side members 4B shown in FIGURES l, 2, 3 and 4 consist of sheet metal panels that are folded or roll formed to provide a flat vertical side section 37 with a laterally outwardly turned rim 38 on the upper side having generally rectangularly disposed top and bottom portions 39 connected by a side portion 40. The rib 38 stiffens the side member and acts as a support bar for the assembled drawer. At the bottom of the panel portion 37 there is an outwardly turned flange 41 connected by a short vertical flange 42 with the inwardly turned flange 43, with the flanges 41 and 43 coacting to define a slot or groove 44 which supportingly receives the side edge of the drawer bottom panel member 45. The front and rear edges of the side panel portions 37 are provided with laterally turned flanges 46 which define openings 47 for receiving the screws 48 that secure the back panel or member 49 and the front panel 50 of the drawer to the side rails.

The supporting slide rail indicated generally at 51 is conveniently roll formed of sheet metal, but the method of formation is not critical. The rail has a side or center portion 52 adapted to be secured to the inside of a cabinet by screws passed through holes 53. A laterally inwardly turned lower flange 54 is of upwardly diverging channel section to form a roller supporting track. An upper flange 55 also acts as a front roller support as will be described. The channel formed between the two flanges receives a rear roller 56 mounted on a stem or projection 57 that extends laterally outwardly from the rear portion of the drawer side member 37.

At their forward ends, the slide rails 51 have upwardly opening U-shaped brackets 58 secured to their top flanges 55. The outer flanges 59 support inwardly projecting pins or projections 60 on which front rollers 61 are rotatably mounted. The rollers 61 are positioned to engage and support the lower flanges 3'9 of the rib 38 on the upper edge of the drawer side member 4B. Desirably an extruded plastic track 62 is slid between the edge of the lower flange 39 and the side wall 37 of the side member. The track has a groove receiving the flange 39, and the bottom of the track is contoured as a guide for the roller 61.

A pivot 63 extending transversely between the flanges of bracket 58 at a point below and forwardly of the roller 61, pivotally supports the rear end of a stop book 64. The shank or center body of the hook rests on the forward end of the slide rail with a downwardly and rearwardly inclined hook end 65 overlying the front end of the slide rail. The hook end 65 hangs by gravity in the path of a pin or projection 66 that is carried by the side portion 37 of the drawer side member 4B toward the rear end of the drawer. As the drawer is drawn open, the hook engages the pin and prevents the drawer from being pulled all the way out of the cabinet. If it is desired to remove the drawer entirely from the cabinet, it is a simple operation to grasp the sides of the drawer with two hands, lift the hooks 64 upwardly with the index finger of each hand, and pull the drawer out from under the hooks. To reinsert the drawer, the rollers 56 are merely guided into the tracks 54 of the glide rails and pushed rearwardly. The rollers and the pins 66 cam the rearward- 1y cammed ends 65 of the hooks up out of the way automatically.

FIGURES 5 and 6 illustrate a modified form of sheet metal side member or rail 4C having an outwardly rolled upper bead or rim 67 which stiifens and finishes the upper edge of the side panel 68. The bottom of the side panel 68 is turned laterally outwardly in a flange 69. Extending laterally outwardly and upwardly from the flange 69 is a wall 70 connected with the upper horizontal wall 71 of a slide bar 72 having a side wall 73 and bottom wall 74. The bottom wall 74 and the slide bar is connected by a short offset with an inwardly projecting flange 75 spaced below the flange 69 so that the flanges 69 and 75 coact to form a slot or groove 76 for supportingly receiving the side edge of the bottom panel of the drawer structure.

Turned laterally outwardly from the side wall portion 68 of the rail 4C are attaching flanges 77 for connection to the front and rear panels of the drawer. Since the slide bar 72 of this side member projects substantially beyond the side panel 68 the attaching flanges 77 can be turned outwardly leaving the inside of the drawer completely free of any connections.

The side member 4C may cooperate with an inverted form of the slide rail 51 (not illustrated) in which the front roller engages the bottom wall 74, and a rear roller (also not illustrated) suitably mounted on the rear of the drawer side member rolls on a projecting flange of the slide rail. Alternatively, the side member 40 may cooperate, without rollers, with a channel shaped guide rail. To this end the walls 71, 73 and 74 may be provided with holes 78 for receiving the stems of slide buttons 79.

What is claimed is:

1. A drawer and supporting rails therefor comprising,

side walls for said drawer having rear supporting elements projecting laterally outwardly therefrom at points towards the rear end of the drawer and spaced from the front of the drawer,

said rails being positioned on opposite sides of said drawer and having supporting surfaces to support said rear supporting elements,

front supports mounted on the front ends of said rails and projecting laterally inwardly therefrom in spaced relation from the supporting surfaces for the rear supporting elements on the drawer,

laterally outwardly projecting and downwardly facing surfaces on the sides of said drawer positioned to be horizontally reciprocably supported by said front supports,

stop hooks horizontally pivoted on said rails near the forward ends of the rails and having forwardly closed and rearwardly turned hook ends spaced vertically from the supporting surfaces of said rails,

and outwardly extending projections located on the sides of said drawer toward the rear of the drawer engageable behind said hooks to limit outward opening motion of the drawer.

2. A drawer and supporting rails therefor as defined in claim 1 in which said supporting elements on said drawer are rollers and said front supports on said rails are rollers.

3. A drawer and supporting rails therefor as defined in claim 2 in which the rearwardly turned ends on said hooks are inclined rearwardly of the supporting rails to 4. be cammed over said outwardly extending projections on said drawer as said drawer is inserted rearwardly between said rails,

and in which the forward ends of said rails limit downward motion of said hooks to forwardly inclined positions.

4. A drawer and supporting rails as defined in claim 2 in which said side members are metal and have angularly offset portions forming said laterally outwardly projecting surfaces along the outer sides of the side members,

said outwardly extending projections being stop pins secured to said side members and projecting from the outer sides thereof at points spaced forwardly of sa d rear rollers.

5. A drawer and supporting rails as defined in claim 4 in which said side members have laterally extending and vertically spaced surfaces on their inner sides forming opposed slots opening inwardly of said drawer and supportingly receiving the side edges of said bottom member,

and means connecting said front and back members to the ends of said side members. 6. A drawer and supporting rails as defined in claim 5 in which said side members are formed of folded sheet metal and have angularly reversely bent flanges on their tops forming said laterally projecting surfaces extending along the outer sides of the side members,

said laterally extending and vertically spaced surfaces on said side members being formed by reverse folds formed along the bottom of the side members,

said supporting rails being folded sheet metal wth laterally inwardly projecting flanges adapted to embrace and support said rear rollers,

and brackets secured to the upper flanges of said rails supporting said front rollers in planes parallel to said side members at a level for the tops of the rollers to supportingly engage the laterally projecting surfaces on said side members when said rear rollers are supported on the lower flanges of said rails,

said stop hooks being pivoted on said brackets.

7. A drawer and supporting rails therefor as defined in claim 6 in which there is a guide strip of molded plastic received between the inturned lower flange at the top of said side member and the upright body of the side memher,

said plastic strip having a slot formed therein receiving said last flange, and a guide track formed on the bottom of said strip engageable with said front roller.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 947,842 2/ 1910 Ohnstrand 312348 2,293,210 8/1942 Marzolf 312348 X 2,496,997 2/1950 Hallberg 312348 X 2,678,866 5/1954 Merrett 312-348 2,701,174 2/1955 Franks 312348 3,141,714 7/1964 Valitus 312-348 3,228,732 1/1966 Peras 3083.6 3,250,582 5/1966 Kassimir 312-348 FOREIGN PATENTS 616,197 1/1961 Italy.

JAMES H. McCALL, Primary Examiner. 

